Think

The Connection Between Space and Wellness

As
living beings, we are our environment. Design plays a significant role in human
health, and the way that we configure and manipulate elements in a space can
mean more to its inhabitants than whether they like the color of the walls, or
the texture of the carpet. On the most
basic level certain environmental factors have universal effects on all of us –
i.e. daylight & circadian rhythm. In
other cases these environmental factors are very personal and specific, based
on our genetic wiring. Genetics set the
stage and the environment activates those genes in different ways.

Our
bodies respond to queues in our environment – as our evolutionary responses
developed - and much of what is designed today is giving our systems the wrong
message. The most unfortunate thing is
that very few organizations and even design professionals recognize the
benefits of salutogenic design (designing for wellness). Salutogenic design isn’t something that’s “cool”
or “good for PR”. It’s a measurable
aspect of design that can help a building’s inhabitants operate at their peak
of effectiveness, maintaining physical and mental well-bring, actually helping
them to lead healthier, and therefore longer lives. It is the ultimate investment in people, in
an architectural sense.

The way
that we design space has a direct impact on physical and mental fatigue,
awareness, memory cognition, depression, cardiovascular & musculoskeletal
health. Not enough emphasis is put on
designing wellness into a space, generally speaking. We are just entering a phase when awareness about
space & wellness is about to explode onto the scene through vehicles like
Delos’ Well Building Certification.
Organizations, competing for the brightest hires need to see wellness as
a significant benefit to the people they are seeking to recruit and retain.

Stresses
or challenges - which can be either physical or psychological - in and of
themselves, are not bad things. In fact Dr.
Robert Rosen wrote a book called Just
Enough Anxiety: The Hidden Driver of Business Success, with the founding
thesis being that humans can benefit from forces causing them to act – any student can tell you that many times pen
doesn’t hit paper until a deadline is established (btw do we still use pens?). When an individual feels as if they can
have an effect on a force causing them stress or anxiety we see it as a
challenge, something that is possible to overcome. When that same individual cannot effect
change then that force becomes a stress.

DOWNWARD SPIRAL

This
stress in the built environment has important repercussions, many of which seem
to be are completely overlooked, or accepted as something to live with. Northwestern National Life did a survey in
which 40% of workers report that their job is very or extremely stressful. In another study conducted by Princeton
Research Associates, 75% of respondents said that they think that the worker
has more on the job stress than a generation ago. The issue of environmental stress isn’t
confined just to the workplace. Just
about any place where people spend significant periods of time can initiate
stress in the User.

Stresses
have many different categorizations: organizational (ineffective processes),
environmental (noise, temperature), social, physical, biological & chemical
(outgassing, VOC’s). These stresses also
have varying intensities, from Ambient which is perceptible but limited, to
Acute which is sudden and intense but short-lived, to Chronic which is on-going
and pervasive. Although each of them
present issues, chronic stress shows a direct correlation to higher levels of
the stress hormone cortisol, heart, stomach and blood pressure issues, impaired
cognitive function, lowered immunity, musculoskeletal and bone density issues,
depression and certain cancers.

The
Journal of Occupational Medicine states that healthcare expenditures for
workers who report high levels of stress are 50% higher than for those who
don’t experience such high levels of stress.
In fact, organizations where people report these environmental stressors
see increased absenteeism, chronic lateness, and higher incidences of workers
quitting. When one considers the cost of
backfilling an open position the cost exceeds just the salary of the new person. It also includes the loss of productivity
while the position is empty (not to mention the time that the person leaving
isn’t productive as they make their decision to leave), the cost of recruiting,
training and the loss of intellectual capital.
These costs add up to 1-5 times the annual salary of the position.

HEALTHY SPACES = HEALTHY ORGANIZATIONS

On the
flip side, organizations with healthy spaces show lower rates of illness and
disability. They are competitive in the
marketplace because of the value they put on the individual, and in an
organizational understanding of their gaps.

These
organizations look to tailor space to
the processes being performed in the space so that the space acts as an
extension of those processes, not as a roadblock to accomplishing the tasks at
hand. Frequently people make things work
in spite of their space, rather than
having their space as an active part of a successful process. Thinking not only about the spatial
experience, but also about lighting, and the auditory needs of the people using
the space maximizes the effectiveness of any space for the user.

They incorporate sustainable measures –
which not only present benefits for the immediate Users, but also for the
larger Community at Large. Issues like
indoor air quality and daylighting have an immediate positive impact on their
inhabitants, even if attention is not called to them directly. Direct access to daylight and views reduces
blood pressure, lowers the incidence of headaches, and in healthcare setting
results in the need for less pain medication and shorter stays in the
hospital. Exposure to daylight has also
been shown to deliver higher accuracy in work product and test scores.

They
seek tocreate environments which are physically legible. Stress is minimized when a building User
understands how to use a space intuitively, based on how spaces are sequenced, &
materials, way finding, lighting and other design elements are used to help
people make sense of a space. Stress is
increased when a person is confused and doesn’t understand how to navigate a
space to effectively get what they need.

They build in social interaction, allowing
people to participate or just be exposed to the activity others. Disengagement and lack of connection is one
of the four biggest issues in the Workplace today (the other three being
Recruiting, Retention and Succession).
Creating spaces that allow opportunities for interaction deepen the
relationship between a person, their space and the other occupants.

They incorporate natural and biophilic elements like
courtyards, plants, natural materials which still have a place in our
evolutionary memory. Using natural
materials can present a sense of scale, texture, color and materiality that
have a naturally calming effect on people on both biological and neurological
levels, reducing stress hormones, and physical fatigue. Even large-scale images, where connection to
the outdoors isn’t possible, make a difference on human stress levels.

Every
person involved in design needs to recognize and embrace the call to
incorporate elements of wellness into the spaces that they create wherever
possible. The concepts and responses are
frequently simple, yet the simplest of ideas can yield meaningful results for the
human organism. As long as we remain
aware of the impact that our designs have on people – at a biological &
neurological level – we can make a significant difference for people coming in
contact with our spaces & buildings.